Caring for your uniforms
These are not ordinary restaurant uniforms. Please read this before your team, or your laundry, washes them for the first time.
We built these like a clothing brand, not like workwear.
Your uniforms were designed the way a premium fashion label designs a collection: chosen for your brand colours, tailored silhouettes, and finished with real embroidery and prints. That is what makes them look distinctive on your floor, and it is also why they need to be cared for like good clothing, not like industrial linen.
A regular person washing nice clothes at home does it gently, cool water, a good detergent, no harsh chemicals, and the clothes last for years. We strongly recommend you treat these uniforms the same way. Wash them gently, follow the instructions below, and they will keep looking new far longer.
NeverNo caustic soda, chlorine, bleach or stain remover. These roughen and weaken the fabric until it tears, fade the embroidery colour, and make prints peel off.
AlwaysUse a good-quality washing detergent, a mild, gentle one. Cheap harsh powders damage colour and fibre.
NeverNever iron on a print. The heat makes it peel. Turn printed T-shirts inside out before washing and before ironing.
AlwaysWash cool and dry gently. High heat in the wash or the dryer shrinks, creases and disfigures garments, see the temperatures below.
Keep apartDo not mix whites with bright or dark colours. Colours can transfer, especially in the first few washes.
Keep apartWash kitchen uniforms and service (front-of-house) uniforms separately. Kitchen items are heavily soiled and need different handling.
Printed T-shirts cotton
Plain T-shirts & Polos cotton
Embroidered Shirts poly-cotton
Suits & Blazers poly-viscose
Trousers & Chef Pants
Chef Coats & Aprons deep colour
Denim items jeans, denim chef coats & aprons
Shackets
Tote Bags
Caps
Shoes
Deep / bright colours & low-fastness fabrics
Rich colours, reds, maroons, navy, black, and deep-dyed suits, aprons and chef coats, hold their colour best when cleaned gently and cool.
Prefer gentle dry-cleaning (ask for a low-heat, mild-solvent cycle) or a cold, gentle machine/hand wash. Never hot water, and never chlorine or bleach, heat and chlorine are what strip the colour out.
Because deep shades can lose a little colour even in dry-cleaning, ask your cleaner to test a hidden area first.
Whites, use oxygen bleach only
If a white garment (like a white chef coat) needs brightening, use an oxygen bleach (sodium percarbonate / "colour-safe" or "oxy" bleach), following the pack instructions.
Never chlorine bleach, on anything. Chlorine yellows and weakens cotton over time, destroys any coloured trim or embroidery, and shortens the life of the garment.
Oxygen bleach only on pure white, unembroidered and unprinted garments. Never bleach an embroidered garment, white is not the test; unembroidered and unprinted is.
Heat is the main culprit
Fabric fibres relax and shrink when they get hot. A hot wash or a hot dryer makes garments shrink, twist out of shape and set permanent creases, cotton and stretch-ribbed collars/cuffs are the most affected. Washing cool and drying on low (or line-drying) keeps the garment's shape and size.
Harsh chemicals rot the cloth
Caustic soda, chlorine, bleach and strong stain removers slowly break down the fibres. The fabric first feels rough, then thins, then tears at stress points, and colours and prints go first. This damage builds up wash after wash, so it may not show until weeks later.
Rough machines snag and tear
A worn washing machine or dryer can have sharp spots, burrs or broken parts inside the drum. These catch on threads and can pull embroidery and seams apart. Always wash embroidered and delicate items turned inside-out and, ideally, inside a mesh laundry bag, and make sure the machine drum is smooth and in good condition.
⚠︎ Important, please read
These garments are made to premium, brand-quality standards. Garments damaged by improper laundering will not be replaced, repaired or refunded. This includes damage from commercial/industrial laundries, from chlorine, bleach, caustic soda or stain removers, from hot washing or hot tumble-drying, from ironing directly on prints, and from worn or damaged machines that snag threads. Following the care instructions above is what keeps your uniforms, and your warranty, intact.
Most damage happens at the laundry, not on your floor. Before you give your uniforms to any laundry, ask them these simple questions. If they cannot honestly say YES to all of them, talk to us first.
- Will you wash our uniforms in cool or warm water, never hot?
- Do you promise no bleach, no chlorine, no caustic soda, no strong stain removers on our garments?
- Will you use a good, mild detergent?
- Will you wash our uniforms separately from other clients' heavily-soiled laundry, and keep whites away from colours?
- Will you turn printed items inside-out and never iron on a print?
- Do you dry on low heat or air, not a hot tumble dryer?
- Are your machines in good condition, no rough or broken parts inside the drum that could snag embroidery?
- Can you gently dry-clean our deep-coloured suits, chef coats and aprons instead of hot-washing them?
QMZ Corp · Garment care guide for supplied uniforms. Keep this with your uniform set and share it with whoever does your laundry. Questions about caring for a specific item? Contact QMZ before washing.